Towel cabinet



May 14, 1940. R. P. F. DE BERSAQUES 2,200,823

-TOWEL CABINET Filed Jan. 31', 1936 NVENTOR.

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Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOWEL CABINET Claims.

I'his invention relates to towel cabinets and more especially to a roller arrangement of the same designed for cloth towels, the objects thereof being to provide structure operative to afford 5 particularly easy introduction to and removal from the cabinet of the to-wel supply, to provide a cabinet capable of delivering independent towels as distinguished from the roll arrangement as heretofore generally used, to provide a structural assembly affording easy withdrawal of the towels for use and in response to which a towel previously withdrawn is automatically fed to a storage compartment for the same, and to otherwise so devise the cabinet as to eliminate objectionable features of prior towel-cabinet designs.

Further and more specific objects and advantages, together with the foregoing, will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction, adaptation, and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a towel 25 cabinet constructed in accord with the now preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section thereof taken to an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section and Fig. 4 a detail horizontal section taken on the respective section lines 3--3 and 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a front elevation illustrating the towel arrangement which I prefer to employ with the cabinet, a plurality of the towels being intercon- 35 nected in a relatively book-forming assembly of the same.

With reference being had to said drawing, the cabinet is desirably constructed to provide side walls indicated by the numeral 6 which Iare con- 40 nected by a pair of tie-forming brackets 1 disposed to extend transversely of the cabinet at the rear of the same, respective ends 8 extending laterally and being apertured for the reception of screws orl the like 9 for hanging the 45 cabinet. l0 indicates the cabinet top wall.

Provided by said side walls to extend circumferentially about the inner face portions thereof in spaced relation to the marginal limits are channels II which operate in commotion to receive lateral edges of an endless roller curtain I2 which is or may be of conventional construction consisting in semi-circular and transversely extending parallel strips I3 carried by a flexible backing I4, said curtain being formed at spaced intervals with openings I5 of suicient span to permit insertion of the hand, the openings extending the approximate width of the cabinet face and providing a curtain which in effect constitutes a plurality of spaced and flexible panels movable as a unit. For the purpose of reducing `5i friction, curtain-supporting rollers I6 are utilized which are revolubly received in recesses formed in the cabinet side walls for movement about pins Il. 4

In the interior of the cabinet is provided a par- 10 titioning member 20 serving to separate the cabinet into 'a forward and' a rear compartment which respectively act to receive the clean and used towels. As re-inforcing and supporting means for said partition, terminally apertured 15 cleats 2l are secured to exten-d transversely at the upper and lower ends of the same. The lower of said cleats I indicate as being loosely mounted over a pair of companion horizontal rods 22 with a relative hinge action of the partition about 20 said rods as `an axis being afforded through the medium of springs 23 acting to influence the cleat against stop collars 24, the opposite ends of the springs engaging a transversely disposed pressure bar 25 to influence the same rearwardly. 25 The pressure bar, in a manner which will hereinafter be more fully described, acts tol maintain used towels against dislodgment from; the rear compartment and as a floor for said rear compartment I provide aflexible sheet of canvas or the like 26 extending between the pressure bar and the partition. The upper of said cleats is afforded a free sliding iit over a pair of guide rods 21, expansion springs 28 influencing the partition forwardly toward laterally disposed spring fingers 29 which coact with a medially disposed hook 30 of a relative L-shape to provide an upper support for the supply of clean towels,

a support for'the lower ends of the towels comprising a pair of hooks 32 supported below the 40 partition and formed to a relative L-shape, said latter hooks being desirably disposed to locate the terminal fingers 32 (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5) in opposing relation.

Representing the manner in which the same are utilized, the several views of the drawing indicate towels 40 and I preferably form the same in a, relative book arrangement through the use of a flexible binding 4I to which one end of a 5 plurality of towels is attached through the medium of stitching or the like, the binding being turned upon itself and providing a two-ply extension 4I in which are openings for introducing the binding over the hooks 32. To engage 55 over the hook 30, the free ends of the respective towels are formed with medial straps 42.

In operation, attention being particularly had to Fig. 2 of the drawing, the curtain is positioned to locate the openings as shown. Any number of towel books within the capacity of the hooks may be used, the books being inverted and the bound ends of the same introduced through the lower opening over the hooksI 32,`

following which the` curtain is raised (imparting a counter-clockwise movement to the same) to thread the projecting free ends of the vtowels into the cabinet, the towel straps 42 following exposure of the hook 30 being inserted thereover and the upper end of the partition forced rearwardly to allow insertion of the towel edges between the partition and the spring ngers 29. To extract a towel, the user removes the strap of the outermost towel from the hook 30` and, by bringing the same through the upper opening and pulling downwardly, imparts a substantial one-third turn' of its revoluble movement to the exposed panel of the curtain. The towel is brought into position for` use with the movement afforded the curtain simultaneously bringing a succeeding opening of the curtain into a position whereat the upper or strap end of the towel supply is again visible. Acting in response to the withdrawal of the next towel with its corresponding curtain-influencing action, the previously used towel is engaged by the vleading edge of the exposed curtain panel and as the latter is forced under and to the rear of the cabinet the used towel is fed between the panel and the pressure bar 25 into the rear compartment. To remove the used towels in replenishing the cabinet with a supply of clean towels, slight pressure is applied to compress the bar 25 in releasing the towels which are withdrawn from the cabinet by dislodging the bindingfrom the hooks 32.

As represented in Fig. 2, a pawl 33 is provided which acts to engage in the interstices between the curtain strips to normally prevent movement of the curtain in a counter-clockwise direction, 34 indicating a spring for influencing the pawl into engagement and 35 representing an eccentric by means of which the pawl may be elevated in affording the described reverse movement of the curtain employed in threading a clean supply of towels into the cabinet.

Various changes in the construction of the parts as well as modied applications of the invention will readily suggest themselves and accordingly should not require specific reference to the same, it being my intention that the appended claims be given the breadth in their construction commensurate with the scope of the invention within the art.

What I claim is:

1. In a towel cabinet providing a compartment for clean towels, and means therein for supporting the towels permitting withdrawal of one end only of the same for'using the towels,

said means acting to locate the towels to have the iixed ends thereof lie at one end of the cabinet and the withdrawable ends at the opposite end of the cabinet, a sliding member operating as one wall of the cabinet and formed with an opening movable the length of the cabinet through which the free end of the successive towels is adapted to be drawn, said wall being movable by the act of withdrawing the towels through the opening and serving to expose the towels progressively as the opening is moved from the free to the iixed end of the towels.

2. In a towel holding structure, the combination with means by which a pack of towels are supported to lie in an approximate perpendicular plane with their upper ends detachable and their lower ends secured, mechanism operable to carry the successively used free portions of the towels under the pack and into a position to the rear thereof, and a cross-bar lying to the rear of the pack and yieldably pressed into engagement with said usedv free portions' of the towels for holding the used towels in the positions at which the same are carried by said `carrying mechanism.

3. A towel holding structure comprised of the combination of meansfby which a pack of towels are supported in an approximate perpendicular plane with their upper ends detachable and their lower ends secured, means enclosing the towel pack and providing an opening through which the detachable ends are manually withdrawnto expose the same for use, and means, actuated by the operation of manually withdrawing said exposable portions of the towels, for simultaneously carrying the previously withdrawn towel to a position rearwardly of the pack. l

4. In a towel holding structure, in com-bination with means by which a pack of towels are supported to have an end of the towels successively exposed, an endless member of a beltlike character supported to extend about the pack and providing peripherally-spaced Vopenings through which access is had to said successively exposed endsof the towels, said member, by the act of withdrawing the kfree end of a towel throughthe opening through which the same is exposed, moving automatically -into a position at which `the free end of a following towel is exposed through a following opening.

5. A towel holding structure comprised of the combination of a cabinet, means by which a supply of clean towels are supported in the cabinet to permit Vindependent and successive manual withdrawal of a usable portion of the towels, and means, actuated automatically bythe operation of manually withdrawing said usable v,portions of the towels, for simultaneously returning the used portion of a previously withl drawn towel to a positionwithin the cabinet` different from that occupied by the clean towels.

ROMAIN Pfr'. DE BERsAQUEs. 

